January 20, 2008

We returned late yesterday after a fun-filled five day road trip south of La Placita.
Our first stop was about 35 miles south where we found a new RV park on the highway. The park was small with only a few campers and didn't have a name anywhere we could see. It did however, have a nice large thatched roof and tiled floor palapa with a commercial kitchen attached. We enjoyed a Mexican breakfast and after letting the pups out to run we continued on our way.
One thing we had to do for Hayley is give her half a dramamine pill to help with her car sickness. Leo seemed to be an ok traveler.
We were soon in the Sierra Madre mountains where the road was a constant series of up and down switch-backs. Luckily we were not on any kind of schedule and able to take our time with speeds limited to a 20 to 30 mph range.
Mid afternoon found us in Caleta de Campos where we found a nice motel with separate bungalows and which also welcomed dogs. The motel also had a nice pool where we enjoyed a swim as the temperature was in the high 80's.
The motel didn't have a restaurant but we found several open air ones offering a wide variety of fish dishes when we drove down to the beach.
In the morning we hit the road without breakfast but knew we were not far from the town of Playa Azul where we knew we'd find plenty of restaurants. Again a good Mexican breakfast with fresh squeezed orange juice but the coffee came in a jar. (Nescafe)
A short distance south of Playa Azul we came to Lazaro Cardenas, the first large city on our trip. We didn't stop while driving through it but saw several stores we planned on stopping at on our way home.
Just south of Lazaro Cardenas we crossed a good sized river with a hydro-electric dam. This was the border between the states of Michoacan and Guerrero and we were waived through the military check-point evident at every state border.
Being able to locate a hotel that accepted dogs was important and about 20 miles north of the cities of Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo we turned off the highway and headed to the little village of Troncones where Mary-Beth had read there was a nice motel. There were several very nice hotels along the beach however they turned out either too expensive, had no vacancy or did not allow dogs. However just when we thought we would have to move on down the road, we stopped at a hotel called Los Suenos,(the dream) which was recently bought and renovated by a family from Washington State. The owner, Christine Page welcomed us and the dogs with open arms and rented us beautiful rooms with king size beds with small fridges and hammocks on the out side decks. Leo especially liked it because not only was the beach right out the back gate of the hotel property but there was also a nice pool in the court yard that he managed to get into several times.
We soon decided that finding such a good hotel was worth staying two nights and none of us could come up with a good reason to continue any further south. Several good beach side restaurants were available to us and fresh real coffee was available at the hotel each morning.
Friday morning we started home after a good big breakfast at a little cafe in Troncones owned and operated by an American who moved down there several years ago.
The first part of the trip north was uneventful until we came to the military check-point at the state border. There must have been some alert about smugglers as we were asked to step out of the car while the soldiers opened our bags and checked under the seats. They were very polite and after finding nothing of interest sent us on our way.
When we got to the city of Lazaro Cardenas we remembered we wanted to check out some stores and stopped at a furniture store that had large heavy wood pieces with a varathane coating. They were very nice but too big to take with us.
On another corner we found someone who was making hammocks on the side of the road and I was able to buy a single person one made of nylon and silk for 220 pesos. Mary-Beth bought a larger one for two people for 350 pesos. Both very good bargains.
Somehow we found ourselves in busy traffic going south on the highway but were able to get ourselves turned around and heading in the right direction.
As we knew there was a nice hotel in Caleta de Campos we decided to stop there and were given the same rooms as we had when coming south. Again there were restaurants on the beach with delicious fish dishes.
Saturday morning we filled up with gas at a Pemex and headed north to the no-name RV park where we knew breakfast would be waiting. This time there was only one camper in the park but the palapa and kitchen were still open for business.
We arrived home in the afternoon and spent the rest of the day relaxing. Driving those twisty roads in the mountains can be exhausting. We were glad to see that our Bouganvilla RV park was nearly full with a variety of rigs and Cynthia's Saturday night meal meant we didn't have to cook.
Today, on Sunday, we decided we had better take a drive to the town of Aquila and our favorite ATM as our funds had been pretty well exhausted on our trip. Unfortunately when getting there, found the ATM was running out of pesos and we were only able to get a little of what we wanted. So, another trip to Aquila will be needed in a day or so.
In the afternoon the pups made it known that they had been away from the beach too long so we loaded our chairs and beach umbrella and let the pups run and play in the water the rest of the day.

Here's a few pictures taken on the road trip. Remember to click on the picture for a larger view

Pigs on the side of the road

Typical Mexican Carneceria (meat market)

View from highway in Sierra Madre Mountains

Lazaro Cardenas

Ken, Mary-Beth and Diane at beach side restaurant

Typical beach side restaurant

All beach side restaurants have hammocks

Small beach palapa

January 21, 2008
Quiet day today. Ken and Mary-Beth drove to Colima so I played dog-sitter to their two pups.
The lime tree that we ordered several weeks ago finally arrived today and was planted in the side area of our site. If everything grows the way it should, next season we should have bananas (3 trees on our site) lemons (1 tree) and limes (1 tree)
The rest of the day was set aside for relaxing. Diane started a new picture she's painting while I read and later met a new arrival from Ontario who parked their motorhome beside us.

January 22, 2008
Another quiet day today. Took the pups to the beach while Diane was at her art class and then spent most of the rest of the day reading. Cynthia had pork loin and rice at the restaurant palapa that we enjoyed.

January 23, 2008
I decided today was the day to go to Aquila to replenish my pesos. On the way there I noticed that the military was setting up a check-point. Sure enough on the way back I was pulled over and had the car searched. Again the soldiers were very polite and laughed with me when one of them saw my Spanish phrase book on the dash.
I also decided my hair was getting a little long, so when coming back through La Placita I stopped and got a haircut from the local hairdresser. You can choose either a scissor or razor cut. I chose the scissors and received a nice haircut for 70 pesos.
One more stop at the Pemex to fill up with gas then home to the park.
Fortunately I picked this morning to go to the ATM because shortly after getting back, the Propane truck arrived. We had less than a quarter tank remaining so had them fill up our tank.
Our twice a week bakery man was the next to arrive and we bought some buns to go with the spaghetti we had for supper.

Hair Dresser in La Placita

Bakery Delivery Truck at Buganvillia RV Park

January 24, 2008
A little overcast this morning but the sun still came out a little later in the day with the temperature still in the low 80's.
When taking the pups to the beach this morning we found a car stuck in the sand, the front tires buried up to the bumper. It was a newer Nisson and surprisingly it was driven by a young Mexican man accompanied by his wife. Sandy from the park tried to pull him out with his truck to no avail. The last I saw of him, the fellow was walking up the beach towards town in search of a tractor.
During the late afternoon, Ken, Mary-Beth, Diane and I sat down with a calendar and maps and plotted our next trip. This one will be to Patzcuaro a colonial town we enjoyed visiting the last time we were in Mexico. We'll leave here on February 8th and be gone about a week. We'll leave all the pups in the care of Sandy and Cynthia.

January 25, 2008
Ken and Mary-Beth left about noon to pick up their sister-in-law at the airport in Manzanillo. Her flight was due at 8:00pm so they decided to stay the night there in a motel and return tomorrow. Their pups were left in our care so I had double duty today walking the four of them.
Friday night tacos at the little road side cafe in La Placita has become popular with the gringos here at the park. The family that owns the cafe has the beef cooking on the bbq going and are busy making tortillas when we all show up. It's also very reasonably priced, 4 big beef tacos with all the trimmings and 2 cervezas for only 80 pesos (8 dollars)
Tonight while we were eating a truck pulled up with live turkeys tied to the side. The driver wasn't selling them, he just wanted a couple of tacos. We're not sure where the turkeys were headed.

Taco Friday in La Placita

Turkeys tied on the side of a truck

January 26, 2008
Early this morning when I went over to Ken and Mary-Beth's RV to take their dogs out I found that they had come home late last night. They chose to drive home after picking up Ken's sister in law at the airport in Manzanillo and arrived back at the park about 11:30pm.
After breakfast I cleaned the leather couch in the motorhome as it was getting kind of dirty with the dogs getting on it with their dirty feet.
At noon we all went down to the beach for a nice long walk and play time for the pups. It really is a nice beach where you can walk for miles and not see another person.
Later in the afternoon we had drinks with Ken and Mary-Beth plus another couple, Ted and Kathy staying here at the park and discussed our next year's plans for coming back to the park. Everyone is anxious to see the changes that will have taken place after a year.
For their Saturday night dinner, Sandy and Cynthia had a steak and french-fry dinner. No Mexican food tonight.

Graydon & Ken at beach with ball chuckers for pups

Diane and Steak Dinner at Troncones

January 27, 2008
Today was market day in El Ranchito so we headed off about 9:00am but we all decided to stop on our way at the Hotel Trinidad in San Juan de Alima. We've eaten there before and they serve excellent breakfasts for a very reasonable price.
Leaving there we got to the market about 11:00 and found more vendors than we had seen in the past. We were low on fruit and vegetables so we stocked up. I was also looking for honey but couldn't find any but after Diane and I left, Ken had come across someone selling it and bought me a bottle.
The road to El Ranchito goes through a banana orchard and also past a little roadside police station/jail and I decided to stop and take some pictures. The banana trees have plastic bags over the stocks of bananas to keep the birds away. There was no one in the jail today but we have seen people looking out through the bars before.
After our big breakfast we weren't hungry until supper time when I made hamburgers from fresh carne molida (ground beef) bought at the local meat market.

Road side Police Station and Jail

Banana Grove

Market Day at El Ranchito

Another picture of the El Ranchito market

January 28, 2008
Easy day today. Took the pups to the beach in the morning and let them play for awhile then I relaxed and read for a couple of hours.
In the afternoon, Tom a guest in the park who is a retired electrical engineer gave a seminar on electrical systems for motorhomes and trailers. He provided some good information and will continue with two more seminars on Wednesday and Friday.
Ken made a sea food lasagna and he and Mary-Beth invited Diane and I over for supper.

January 29, 2008
Another day of not doing much. Leo the pup was sick during the night, probably from being at the beach two days in a row and drinking a bunch of salt water. The carpet had to be cleaned so once I started I continued cleaning the rest of it. I'll have to remember, only every second day at the beach for the pups.
Hopefully everyone will be feeling better tomorrow because we want to go to El Faro the little fishing village south of here that has a great beach for swimming.
The afternoon was spend reading and relaxing and then up to the palapa and Cynthia's Tortilla Soup for supper.

January 30, 2008
I'm a little late posting as yesterday evening I was having trouble connecting with the internet satellite. Fortunately everything seems to be working this morning.
Ken and I attended the second and very informative "Electricity for RV's" seminar by Tom the Electrical Engineer who is staying here.
In the afternoon we headed for El Faro our favorite beach village. It's interesting, there's several beach side cafes and we always go to the same one where I always order the same thing: Pescado (grilled fish) but each time its always served a little different.
We took a few pictures on the way and few when we were there. Donkeys are very common along side the road as are signs not to throw garbage (although everyone does) Each little village is connected to the highway with this particular type of road. and vendors selling jewelery always show up at your table when you're sitting at a restaurant.
When we returned we discovered the internet was down so Diane and I dug out an old Jason Bourne movie to watch in evening.

One of several Bouganvilla plant s at our campsite

Typical Govt. road from highway to villages

A common sight along the road

Do Not Dump Garbage - Another common roadside sign

Jewelry Vendor at El Faro Beach restaurant

Happy pups at El Faro beach

January 31, 2008
The temperature is starting to get hot again. Certainly over 90 degrees in the afternoon.
After making pancakes for breakfast we just stayed around the motorhome today until supper time when Diane and I decided to go to town for Tacos. We usually do this on Friday but decided a day early wouldn't hurt. I don't know what we'll do tomorrow on our regular Friday Taco night. After eating we went over to the local ice-cream store and treated ourselves to two scoops of ice-cream. (This Blog makes it sound like we just sit around and eat all day)
There's a video store beside the ice-cream store and Diane found a Diane Keaton movie we can watch sometime when we have nothing to do.